


Let the Bough Break

by angellwings



Category: Chicago Fire
Genre: Developing Relationship, F/M, Falling In Love, Fluff and Angst, Friendship/Love, Romance, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-20
Updated: 2020-07-20
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:14:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25395967
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angellwings/pseuds/angellwings
Summary: After nearly two years of mutual pining and struggles with insecurities and self doubt (and a long stint where Casey worked his ass off to woo her), things with Sylvie had finally fallen into place. Their first date took place discreetly, which was no easy feat, and was one of the most carefree nights Casey had ever had in his life.What he has with Sylvie isn’t fireworks and explosions. It’s something effortlessly magical and a great deal more sustainable — warmly glowing with slow burning embers that keep you satisfied and safe. It’s not a passion that burns down the house with its heat, but an abiding and deep affection that lights your way and helps you find your path.It has permanence.Stability.
Relationships: Sylvie Brett/Matthew Casey
Comments: 47
Kudos: 171





	Let the Bough Break

**Author's Note:**

> **A/N:** So, a quick disclaimer, I tried to be as true to character as possible with this one but I know some people may not agree with me about one particular characterization. Be prepared for some angst mixed in with the happiness.
> 
> xoxo
> 
> PS - choosing a lyric to put at the top of this was hard cause this ENTIRE song is so completely about Brett and Casey. Give it a listen!

******

_“There was a time when I would have believed them,_

_If they told me you could not come true,_

_Just love's illusion,_

_But then you found me and everything changed,_

_And I believe in something again._

_My whole heart,_

_Will be yours forever._

_This is a beautiful start,_

_To a lifelong love letter._

_Tell the world that we finally got it all right,_

_I choose you.”_

_-“I Choose You” by Sara Bareilles_

******

After nearly two years of mutual pining and struggles with insecurities and self doubt (and a long stint where Casey worked his ass off to woo her), things with Sylvie had finally fallen into place. Their first date took place discreetly, which was no easy feat, and was one of the most carefree nights Casey had ever had in his life. 

What he has with Sylvie isn’t fireworks and explosions. It’s something effortlessly magical and a great deal more sustainable — warmly glowing with slow burning embers that keep you satisfied and safe. It’s not a passion that burns down the house with its heat, but an abiding and deep affection that lights your way and helps you find your path.

It has permanence.

Stability.

It’s everything he’s ever wanted and he knows that as surely as he knows gravity exists. He knew it from the first minute of their first date. 

Sylvie asked him if they could keep the relationship just between the two of them until they found firmer ground as a couple. He agreed easily, not wanting to rush anything. Especially with Sylvie. They were two weeks into something that filled him with more hope and promise than he’d felt in quite some time when one of his contractors offered him his timeshare. 

One week in the Florida Keys for basically nothing.

Matt hadn’t used his furlough in far too long and, now that he truly had something to look forward to outside of 51, a short break sounded _wonderful_.

Another week later, he and Sylvie had their bags packed and airline tickets in hand as they took a joint taxi to the airport. They flew off for a week furlough together and yet somehow the house (aside from Stella and Kelly) was none the wiser about their new relationship. It was a minor miracle.

They got back late last night and had the whole day to lounge around and unpack before their first shift back at 51. The trip was exactly what they needed. Time alone together away from Chicago and 51 and the histories they’d built within them over the years.

Plus, he was never going to be opposed to seeing Sylvie in a bikini which, whenever they managed to leave the condo, was frequent.

But they’re home now and certain discussions need to happen before they go back to work. They’ve both been avoiding them while they enjoyed their new relationship bubble. That bubble is bound to burst eventually and he wants them to be prepared for what comes next.

Not that he really knows what that is.

And therein lies the problem.

He knows from his previous relationship debacles that communication is key. If they want to do this right, and he does, then they need to start actually communicating _now_.

Sylvie stirs and hums contentedly from where she’s curled into him with her head resting on his chest and her arms wrapped around him. Her bed is a hell of a lot more comfortable than his. Between the perfect mattress and the perfect companion, he’s very tempted to forget communication and drift back to sleep.

He ignores the temptation and forces one eye open. It’s a good thing he does too because one glance at the soft lavender shade of Sylvie’s walls reminds him of one particular topic he wanted to discuss with her.

The living situation. 

No, not _their_ living situation.

He is _not_ getting ahead of himself. He won’t.

Not _much_ , anyway.

He wants to find out what she plans to do about _her_ situation.

As a result of Foster and Cruz both moving out, Sylvie has a three bedroom apartment all to herself. Over the last month, it’s been a nice little refuge they used to maintain their privacy. It also kept them from constantly intruding on Severide and Kidd. He knows Sylvie’s time alone in this apartment is running out. She’d told him more than once that her savings couldn’t take much more of a hit. He’ll be sad to say goodbye to the place, honestly. It now holds a lot of fond memories for him — memories of the two of them.

A soft hand ambles it’s way up his chest, the light touch is familiar and enticing. He grins stupidly as the hand continues to trail upward and stops on his bristled jawline. He decided not to shave during their furlough and now he has a fairly thick blonde beard. Sylvie’s slender fingers run over and through it and he has no control over the way he sighs and leans into her touch.

“I’m gonna miss the furlough beard,” Sylvie says in a voice that’s tender but hoarse from sleep. “It made you look so relaxed.”

He chuckles and turns his head to kiss her palm. “I don’t think it was the beard that made me look relaxed, Sylvie.”

“No?” She asks with a coy smile.

“No.”

“Huh,” she replies, playing dumb. “I wonder what it was, then?”

He smirks and rolls over, using his arms to brace himself above her. “Your guess is as good as mine. The ocean air, maybe?”

“It’s all the salt,” she says as her eyes brighten with amusement. “It’s supposedly healing.”

“Right,” he agrees dryly, slowly closing the small gap between his lips and hers. “The salt.”

She smiles against his mouth for a moment before giving into the kiss. He decides _feeling_ Sylvie’s smile is an equal high to _seeing_ it. Both offer him a certain kind of weightlessness he worried he’d never get back. She winds her arms under his and up, around his shoulders, while hooking her legs over the backs of his thighs. He learned early on that Sylvie prefers to coil herself around him like a vine, touching as much of him as she can.

He fucking loves it.

She uses her hold on him to lift herself up and press her chest flush against his. The only thing between them is the soft oversized sweatshirt she threw on in the middle of the night. Ridding her of it should be easy enough. She’s fully swept away by the kiss. Their tongues are tasting and tangling, their teeth occasionally nip at each other’s bottom lips — each kiss bleeds into another and it’s fantastic. Kissing Sylvie is just as enjoyable as anything else that comes after. He could spend a whole day with her doing nothing more than making out like a couple of teenagers. 

His favorite thing is the way she occasionally pulls his bottom lip between hers and gently sucks it. It drives him crazy every time. She knows this and often takes advantage of it. Like now for instance, just as one of his hands latches onto the bottom hem of her sweatshirt. His reaction is instant. He moans and his hand, the one that’s not on the mattress propping him up, grips her waist for dear life -- as if he might drown if he lets go.

She removes her arms from around him and reaches for the bottom of the shirt herself. She pulls away from the kiss to smirk at him and then peels it up and over her head. He helps her free her arms and then takes it from her, dropping it over the edge of the mattress. And now they’re on an even playing field -- miles and miles of skin.

Her soft hands trace slowly up his sides, light enough to tickle and cause a shiver, and then over the light blonde hairs on his chest. She glances at his arm that’s still braced against the bed before folding her arms around his back and yanking him downward. His arm gives out causing him to collapse on top of her. She chuckles at his surprised grunt.

“Much better,” she says as his full weight presses against her.

He laughs and shakes his head at her. “You could have just asked.”

“Surprising you is more fun,” she admits with a wide smile.

Well, she’s certainly good at that. Always has been. His developing feelings for her surprised him at every turn -- every point of growth. He never saw her coming.

Laying down on top of her caused friction in all the right places. He snaps his hips against hers and she sucks in a sharp breath. She whimpers and writhes underneath him. He grinds the length of himself against her center. Her breathing becomes heavier and she throws her head back into the pillows, exposing the curve of her neck and the defined lines of her sternum. She’s everything lithe and lovely, particularly in the throes of passion.

The action gives him greater access to her and he can’t resist trailing kisses from the edge of her jaw down the column of her throat. One of her hands cups the nape of his neck while the other cards through his hair.

“Oh, God, Matt,” she mutters in a low sultry tone.

It consistently thrills him when she drops her voice like that. Sexiest thing he’s ever heard, for certain when it’s his name rolling off her lips.

This is the best way to start his day. He thanks all his lucky stars that they have nowhere to be today. They can take their time. Which is exactly what he plans to do. He kisses and licks and nibbles a path across her chest and stomach. She mentioned she’s going to miss the beard so he’s going to give her one last memory of it to take with her. Who knows the next time he’ll be off long enough to grow one?

“I know exactly what you’re doing,” Sylvie says with a throaty laugh. “And it’s going to be completely worth the beard burn later.”

Does he know her or what? It’s one of his favorite things about this new relationship. They read each other loud and clear when they’re not even trying — in and out of the bedroom.

 _Jesus_ , _he’s in love with her_. Head over heels, knock it out of the park, shout it to the world in love with her. Sometime soon he’s gonna have to tell her that. But for now he intends to _show her_ instead.

******

Is this real life? As in her _actual_ life and not a fantasy or a daydream? She’s truly spent the last month building something new and beautiful with Matthew Casey? 

It’s so hard to believe. For the longest time she told herself it wasn’t possible. It would never happen and even if it did it wouldn’t work or it would fizzle out fast. But they’re a month in and he’s still not tired of her — and they spent one of those weeks as each other’s constant companions! Surely, if they were going to fizzle out she’d have started to feel it by now.

There’s no sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach like there was after she accepted Kyle’s proposal or after she figured out things with Cruz weren’t quite right. Right now, as she assesses her emotions, all she feels in the pit of her stomach is a giddy fluttering. The same fluttering she’s felt for the last four weeks.

Could this _thing_ with Matt really be coming together after all?

There’s a flush of the toilet from her bathroom, reminding her that Matt had gone to clean up after their tantalizing wake up call. She should probably do the same. She needs to brush her teeth. A silly part of her consciousness is amazed that she kissed him with morning breath and couldn’t have cared less.

She chuckles to herself as she throws back the covers. She really has to be in love for that to happen. She freezes as she reaches for her discarded sweatshirt.

In love? _Love?_ Already?

Oh, no.

Matt can’t be there yet, can he? How far ahead of herself has she gotten? Is there any way to pretend to be ignorant of her own feelings?

“You okay?” Matt asks in concern as he steps out of the bathroom.

She’s still frozen and naked with her hand fisted around her sweatshirt. Get it together, Sylvie. 

“I’m good!” She says hurriedly. “Totally good.”

She stands from the bed and starts to throw the shirt on but Matt stops her with a hand wrapped around her wrist. He’s put on boxers and a thin t-shirt since he got out of bed and she already misses his bare chest.

His hand tenderly grazes the pink and red rash like burns on the sensitive skin of her stomach. “Last beard burn for a while,” he says with a smirk. “How are you holding up?”

She laughs and smacks his arm. “Is it the beard that makes you this cocky? Because if so maybe I _won’t_ miss it.”

He takes the sweatshirt out of her hand and slips it over her head, gently tugging the crew neck down. She slips her arms in the sleeves as he pulls the length of down. His warm hands counteract the chill of the air conditioner on her skin. Once she had it on, he bands his arms around her back and pulls her against his chest.

“You know what I think it is?” He asks as his smirk transforms into an earnest grin.

“What?” She asks.

“I think you make me cocky.”

“Me?” She wraps her arms around him in return, craning her neck to look up at him. 

He nods. “I think being happy makes me more confident and _you_ make me happy. So yeah, if I’m cocky then it’s _your_ fault, not the beard.”

“Good answer,” she replies. Everything inside her turns to mush. Soft, melted _mush_. How does he _do_ that? “So,” she starts as she pushes away from him and heads for the bathroom. “We go back to work tomorrow.”

“We do,” he states.

“We have some decisions to make before then.” She grabs her toothbrush and wets it, grabbing her toothpaste before she continues. “We can’t keep it a secret for much longer.”

He grins and leans against the door jamb and watches her squirt the toothpaste. “I’m surprised you’ve kept it a secret at all.”

She snickers and blushes. “I’d smack you again but you’re totally right. It’s a miracle I haven’t let the cat out of the bag yet.”

He steps away from the doorway and into her space, pressing a kiss to the top of her head before he speaks. “We’ll talk about it over breakfast. I’m gonna run out and pick something up. Your kitchen’s pretty empty. Any special requests?”

“No, I trust you. I think we ate breakfast together enough times last week for you to know what I like by now.”

“Not to mention the thousands of mornings we’ve spent together at the firehouse,” he reminds her with a warm smile. “Alright, I’m gonna get dressed and go. Should be back in about an hour.”

She nods and quickly kisses his scruffy cheek as he leaves. God, she really does love that beard. 

Once Matt leaves, she brushes her teeth and showers. She fixes a pot of coffee and then starts laundry. She throws in her and Matt’s things together without giving a single thought. Might as well wash them here and then all he has to do is put his clothes away when he gets back to the loft.

She knows she shouldn’t be but she’s nervous about their talk. She does not want to hide what they have any longer. She wants to go to Molly’s and not feel like she needs to keep her distance. She wants to go on dates to places they know they like and not have to avoid them so they don’t run into anyone. She wants everyone to know that he’s hers. Matt Casey is off the market. She’s not normally possessive but it’s different with Matt. 

Everything is different with Matt.

He’s back almost exactly an hour later. Prompt as always. Harrison and Antonio tended to be late, assuming she’d take forever to get ready and they had time. She hated that. Matt never does that. If he says he’s picking her up at eight then he’s at her door at eight. He respects her time. He respects _her_. 

Ugh, she’s so completely in love with him.

They sit down at her tiny kitchen table -- him with his omelet and her with her bagel, mixed berries, and yogurt. (She was right; he knew exactly what she wanted.)

“Perfect,” she tells him with a wide smile. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” he says with a muted chuckle and a kiss to her temple.

He glances down the room and his gaze pauses over a pile of his clothes folded on her couch. 

“Did you do my laundry?” He asks.

She shrugs. “I was doing mine anyway and this way all you have to do when you get back to the loft is put them away.

He shakes his head at her with a look of amazement. “You didn’t have to do that, Sylvie.”

She waves him off. It’s really no big deal. It’s not like she went out of her way to do it. “Tomorrow’s gonna be busy enough without you having to worry about laundry.”

“You’re so damn thoughtful,” he tells her, a look of wonder on his face.

“You’re one to talk,” she fires back with a fond grin. “You always set aside food for me if Ambo’s on a call during a meal time. _Always_. And I’ve never once asked you to. You just do it.”

“You’re busier than Truck and you have to eat, even if you don’t have a lot of time for it,” he says brushing off her acknowledgement.

She rolls her eyes with affectionate exasperation. “Okay, Matt. Well, thank you anyway.”

They eat in comfortable silence. Matt found a copy of the paper while he was out and Sylvie busies herself with catching up on Instagram. She feels a jealous pang when she stops on a picture of Stella and Severide at Pictured Rocks. They’re so openly affectionate for all the world to see and proud of who they are when they’re together. She wants that. She wants that so much it hurts.

She’s not sure when Matt stopped reading his paper, but he clears his throat and she looks up to find him pointedly looking between her and her phone. She bites her bottom lip and then eats the last spoonful of her yogurt. The sooner they finish eating the sooner they can talk and _maybe_ he’s just as eager to make a change as her.

“You’re awfully interested in that photo,” he says as his attentive stare seems to catalogue her expression. “You’ve been staring at it for five minutes.”

“It’s Kidd and Severide,” she tells him.

He nods and looks thoughtful. He stays silent but his face gives her the impression there are words on the very tip of his tongue. After a beat of heavy silence, he speaks.

“Before our first date,” he starts, fidgeting in his chair. “You said you wanted to keep this quiet for a while.” She nods and waits for him to go on. “Do you still feel that way now? If you do, then that’s completely fine. We’ll do whatever you want. But…” He takes a deep breath and says his next words in an anxious rush. “I’m so ready to tell 51 that it’s not even funny.”

Her eyebrows lift and she has no chance of hiding her smile. He looks nervous like he thinks she won’t agree and as if he isn’t putting into words everything she’s been feeling for the past week. 

“Whenever you’re ready for that step just know that I am too. Hell, I’ll go out on the street and shout it to all of Chicago right now if you want,” he offers eagerly. “Just say the word.”

She wants to say the word. She really does. But she wonders if he realizes what that means.

“Once we decide to go public, you know there’s some not so comfortable things we have to do first, right?” She asks. “Like tell Boden and probably fill out some very awkward relationship disclosure and then before we do either of those things one of us should probably…”

He knows what she’s trying to say by the reluctance in her voice alone. She’s certain of it.

“Tell Gabby?” He asks.

“Yeah,” she replies with a grimace.

“Uh, well, what I’m about to say may get me in trouble because I know we were supposed to just keep it between us and Kelly and Kidd but… **.** Well, she was your best friend and the last thing I’d want is for the two of you to lose that because of me so I--” he cuts off his own sentence and gives her an apologetic smile. “I called her a couple of weeks ago.”

“You did what?” She asks in shock.

“I wanted to ask you to go on the trip with me and that felt like a fairly serious step. I thought I’d better clear the air with her first,” he admits.

“I--Okay,” she stammers. “How did she take it?”

“Surprisingly well,” Matt answers in confusion. “Better than I expected. And she told me to tell you to call her whenever you’re ready to talk.”

The shock wears off and leaves behind a knot of emotions. Taking the initiative to talk to Gabby before their trip meant he’s been just as serious about them as she is, but it also means he left her out of a very big step. She would have liked to have been a part of that conversation in case it didn’t go well and he needed the moral support. She’s glad it did seem to go well but the idea of him handling that on his own doesn’t sit well with her. 

“You look upset,” Matt says through an analytical squinting gaze.

God, she forgets that she wears her emotions on her sleeves sometimes. “No, not upset. I mean, yes, a little, but not because you talked to her. The fact that you talked to her actually means a lot to me. It tells me how serious you are about us.”

“Extremely serious,” he replies. 

“Good,” she says with a soft smile before her face falls again. “But…”

“But?”

“But I don’t like that you did that alone,” she confesses reluctantly. She may be about to reveal too much of her heart but what they have won’t work if she hides from him. “I’m relieved it went well, Matt, but what if it hadn’t? You would have ended up dealing with that fall out alone. I know you meant to take something off of _my_ shoulders but you also excluded me from a decision that affected _both_ of us. I don’t want you to only make things easier for _me_. I want to make them easier for _you_ too. You denied me a chance to do that.”

He reaches across the table and takes her hand in his, running his thumb across her knuckles. “I’m sorry. You’re right. That wasn’t my intention but that was certainly the outcome. My only thought was how it might hurt you if it didn’t go well so I tried to manage the situation to protect you.”

“I don’t need protecting, Matt,” Sylvie tells him. “I don’t want a knight in shining armor. I want a partner.”

The somber line of his lips quirks upward and his eyes display an exquisite look of hope. She feels that hope in her bones. “A partner is all I’ve ever wanted. I get that. But I’m a very protective person, Sylvie. I know this about myself. Sometimes it’s hard to be aware of that in the particular moment. I also might have forgotten what it’s like to have someone _want_ to be there for me. I don’t say that for pity or as an excuse, but just to help you understand...this is going to be an adjustment for me.”

She squeezes his hand and gives him a sympathetic smile. “For me too. In all my other relationships I got used to putting on a brave face. I haven’t done that with you in a long time so being in a relationship with someone while my guard is totally down...that’s not typical for me. I don’t totally know what that’s going to look like and honestly it’s terrifying.”

He brings her hand to his lips and kisses her knuckles. “We’ll figure it out together.”

She nods. “There’s nothing I want more.”

“So, now that you know Gabby knows,” Matt says with an apologetic wince. “What’s the verdict on telling the house?”

“I want to move forward.” she tells him. “I think you’re right. It’s time we tell the house.”

His smile is so bright it’s practically blinding. “We’ll talk to the Chief before shift tomorrow and see how he wants us to handle it. But I feel like we’re going to need to address it in the common room with everyone together. Tell the story as a unit and answer their questions as a unit with everybody at once. Then hopefully they get it out of their systems.”

She snorts indelicately and gives him a fond glance. “That’s optimistic.”

“Yeah, well, I learned that from you.”

“Oh!” She says with a giddy chuckle while blushing at his compliment. “That was smooth! You did not throw away your shot, Matt Casey.”

“With you?” He asks with a rare playful wink. “Never.”

******

They clean up the kitchen after breakfast and then, as part of his apology, Matt relays every detail of his phone call with Gabby. Sylvie was right. He hadn’t thought about whether or not she would want to be there with him for that phone call. He’d only thought about protecting her in the event Gabby reacted negatively. Protecting others was in his nature, but protecting _himself_ didn’t typically occur to him.

Luckily for him, Gabby had understood. The conversation was awkward as hell and a painful reminder of all the ways he’s failed so far in his life, but it hadn’t been a source of additional stress. There’d be no angry or hurtful words exchanged. She’d been shocked, sure, but she also told him she knew one of them would move on eventually. When she mailed him those divorce papers, she knew what would happen and what the consequences of her leaving would be. When he never called her back after they saw each other last, she saw it as an opportunity to focus on the life she’d built for herself in Puerto Rico. They both needed a commitment beyond a furlough or two and they were never going to find that in each other.

Plus, it was clear, now more than ever, that he and Gabby wanted very different things in life. He wanted a partner he could build a life with -- an equal partner. Gabby wanted to prioritize her own agency over anything else in her life. She never wanted to be beholden to anyone. She still wanted a family and to save the world, but she wanted to achieve all of that while standing firmly apart from anyone else. He could respect that. They had very different ideas of what a relationship and a marriage should look like but that didn’t mean either of them was wrong.

Just that they were wrong for _each other_.

He can confidently say he’s not in love with her and hasn’t been for sometime. Seeing her again in the fall was more about unresolved tension than love and falling back into something familiar -- something that wasn’t as new or unknown as his feelings for Sylvie. He didn’t regret it, per se, if offered him the opportunity to choose to end their relationship instead of leaving it all up to Gabby. He didn’t realize he needed that until then. But he also doesn’t consider it one of his more brilliant choices, especially since it caused a niggling of doubt in Sylvie that he knows she’s still struggling with. They’ve talked about it over the last four weeks and even before that when he spent an exorbitant amount of time persuading her they were worth the risk. But it’s a work in progress. He’s going to have to put in a little more time to work that out.

Which he is more than willing to do. Christ, he’ll give her all the time he’s got left if she’ll let him. 

Not that he’s ready to tell her that just yet. 

Again, he’s not getting ahead of himself.

Even though he’d really like to.

Once he’s rehashed the phone call for Sylvie, she calls Gabby herself.

He takes over the laundry so that she can focus on the conversation, but he should have known she’d find something else to do. Over the last two years or so, he’d learned that when Sylvie’s nervous or working through a big emotion she likes to be active. If they were at work she’d throw herself into restocking the rig, teaching Violet techniques for tricky intubations, or helping Stella organize Girls on Fire events. However, they’re not at work. So, instead, she’s buzzing around the apartment while she talks.

As he switches laundry loads and folds things he’s removing from the dryer, she’s dusting her living room, wiping down the kitchen counters, making tea -- anything and everything that keeps her from sitting down. Because of her flitting in and out of the room, he only makes out snippets of the conversation.

Sylvie’s tone doesn’t indicate guilt or anger or heartbreak. It seems to be going well. It’s not the sort of conversation he often overhears between her and Foster with lots of laughter and pleas to come visit but it’s not a heated argument and that’s a blessing all on it’s own.

Sylvie passes by him to grab a stack of folded towels just in time for him to hear Gabby through the phone.

_“Honestly, this explains so much about last fall. You were so standoffish. I thought you were pissed at me still over the way I left.”_

“No! I was just...feeling guilty and I didn’t know how to act around you until I worked through it.”

_“Well, I won’t lie and pretend it’s not a bit weird for me. I was shocked when I talked to Matt a couple of weeks ago, but I’ve had a while to sit with it and...life is messy. No one knows that better than first responders but just because it’s messy doesn’t mean it’s wrong.”_

Just because it’s messy doesn’t mean it’s wrong.

Gabby just hit the nail on the head for all of them.

Her leaving was messy, but it wasn’t wrong. Their marriage ending was messy, but it wasn’t wrong. Matt falling in love with Sylvie was messy, but _it wasn’t wrong_.

Sylvie wanders away toward the linen closet and the conversation drifts away from him again. They’ve been on the phone for at least forty-five minutes at this point and Matt has a feeling they’re talking about a lot more than his and Sylvie’s new relationship. Gabby and Sylvie used to be extremely close and Matt knows that’s fallen away since Dawson left. Hopefully, they’re addressing some of that tension as well. As strange as it would be for his girlfriend and his ex-wife to be friends, he’s hoping they can work it out. For Sylvie’s sake.

A few minutes later, she comes back into the room and grabs his arm. She leads him over to the couch and they both sit. While they sit, she presses the speaker button on her screen.

“We’re both here now, Gabby,” Sylvie tells her. She gives him a small encouraging smile. “She wanted to talk to both of us at once.”

“Hey, Gabby,” Matt says cautiously.

“Hey, Matt,” Dawson greets as her voice fills the apartment. “Listen, I have to go but before I do I want to say something.” 

There’s an awkward pause and Matt has flashbacks to their last conversation where they sat in silence for several minutes -- neither knowing what to say. Thankfully, that doesn’t happen here. Gabby carries on. 

“I know last time we talked, Matt, it was very stilted and strange and I felt more than a little blindsided. But it’s been a couple of weeks now and I’ve been thinking about it and trying to grapple with how it makes me feel and I realized… **.** ” She lets her sentence trail off thoughtfully before completing it. “It doesn’t matter how I feel about it. It’s not my life. We’re all adults here and we don’t require anyone’s approval to pursue our own happiness. I’ve pursued mine and I found it. I love my life where I am now and what I’m doing. I wouldn’t trade it for anything. If being together is what makes you happy -- go for it. I mean, it’s a surprise turn of events, yes, but when is life ever predictable? Even through the distance, I’ve always thought that you guys are the best people I’ve ever known and if it works out then there won’t be any two people who deserve it more.”

He’s stunned into silence. He can tell Brett’s surprised too. They both stare at the phone for a few seconds before Gabby speaks again in a much breezier tone.

“That’s what I think, anyway.”

Brett gets herself together first. He can feel the relief flowing off of her waves. “Thank you, Gabby. I know it’s not an easy situation. Neither Of us planned on this. It just sort of... _happened_.”

“Life’s a really sneaky bitch, huh?” Gabby asks with an audible smirk.

“The sneakiest,” Brett replies with a scoff.

“It means a lot to us to have your support,” Matt says when he finally gathers his wits. “The last thing either of us would want is to hurt you.”

“I know that,” Gabby replies softly. “You’ve both always put other people first. That’s how I know this is serious. If it wasn’t then it wouldn’t have gotten this far.”

Too true. Damn, Gabby’s really got their number. 

“Alright,” Dawson says. “I really do have to go this time. I’ve got a group of kids waiting on me to kick around a soccer ball. I’d hate to disappoint them. See you guys next time I’m in town.”

“Yeah,” Matt replies. “Of course.”

“Bye, Gabby. Thanks for taking the time,” Sylvie says genuinely. “It was a really good talk.”

“It was,” she agrees. “We needed it. Tell 51 I said hello!”

The call disconnects and Sylvie breathes a huge sigh of relief. “That was exhausting but absolutely necessary.”

They both lean back into the couch and he puts an arm around, pulling her into his side. “I’m glad it helped.” He presses his lips to her hairline and stays in that position, simply taking in the moment. While taking in the moment, he remembers a question he wanted to ask her earlier in the morning. “Have you thought about what you’re going to do about the apartment?”

“Yes,” she answers as she snuggles further into him. “At Foster’s going away party, Cindy and Herrmann offered to let me move into their studio. I think I’m gonna take them up on it when my lease ends next month. Once I’ve rebuilt my savings I can look for a one bedroom somewhere, but their studio should be all I need until then.”

“Okay,” he says with a nod. “Let me know what help you need from me. _Anything_ you need.”

He feels a light kiss on his neck. “Right now, I just need you. Everything else will still be here tomorrow.”

That’s a request he is more than happy to oblige. Tomorrow’s problems are for tomorrow. They have one more day as just Matt and Sylvie before they turn back into Captain Casey and PIC Brett. No sense in fretting it away. 

******

Last night, they stayed at the loft with Kidd and Severide. The loft had been sort of a proving ground for them over the last few weeks. Stella and Kelly (and Foster, though Matt doesn’t know that) are the only ones that know about her and Casey. It allowed them to test the waters regarding public displays of affection in a controlled setting. It felt like a safe space and she liked having someone outside of the two of them know about their shifting relationship status.

She’s dressed and ready for their shift while sitting on Matt’s bathroom counter. He still has to shave the furlough beard and she demanded to be present for a proper goodbye. 

“You’re ridiculous. You know that, right?” He asks her as he playfully pokes her side.

“It feels like the end of an era.”

He laughs at her dramatics. “A week is not an _era_.”

“It felt like much more than one week and you know it,” she fires back. “I’m gonna miss this blonde scruff,” she tells him as she runs her fingers over it one final time. “But I have to admit I do miss seeing your entire face.”

She snaps a quick picture with her phone before he starts shaving and the look on his face is less than amused. She chuckles at him and shrugs. “For the before and after collage.”

She scrolls through facebook while she waits for him to finish, eventually stumbling across a post on the Molly’s page about Disco Night. Otis’ favorite. It was his idea, after all, why shouldn’t it be his favorite? Herrmann kept the tradition alive after he passed. She hadn’t been to one since she and Matt started dating.

“What are you doing after shift tomorrow?” She asks him thoughtfully.

“I have to go do the rounds on my jobsites,” he answers, finishing up the last stroke of his razor. “Why?”

She sets her phone down, wets a washcloth with warm water, and hands it to him so he can clean his face. 

“It’s Disco Night at Molly’s tomorrow night. It’s been too long since I’ve been to one. I feel kinda bad about that. Joe and I always try to go...for Otis, you know?”

He washes off the remaining shaving cream and then moves to stand between her legs, framing her face with his hands. “Then we should go,” he states with a broad smile. “I’ll meet you there.”

“Really?” She asks eagerly.

“Absolutely,” he replies, trailing his hands down her arms to rest at her waist. “Okay, what do you think? How disappointed are you to have Captain Casey back?”

She wraps her arms around his neck and narrows her eyes at him. “Excuse me, don’t you dare talk about my Captain that way. I could _never_ be disappointed to see him.”

“ _Your_ Captain, huh?” He asks with a smirk and a quirked brow.

“ _My_ Captain,” she confirms. “And after today, everyone will know it.”

She’s beyond ready for everyone to know it. They belong to each other and it shouldn’t be a secret any longer.

******

“Hey! Captain Casey’s back!” Stella exclaims with a grin as he and Brett emerge from his bathroom. “No more weird beard. Seriously, you looked far too chill with a beard.”

“I liked the beard!” Sylvie argues. “It was very Chris Evans.”

Stella rolls her eyes. “Girl, you have a _type_.”

Her soft laugh surrounds him a moment before she presses a quick pecking kiss to his newly smooth cheek. “You bet I do.”

“You guys are telling the house today?” Severide asks as he fills his travel mug with coffee.

“Boden first,” Casey answers. “And then, we hope, the house.”

“Big day,” Stella says excitedly as she wraps Brett up in a hug. “I’m so happy for you guys!”

“Thanks, Stella,” Sylvie replies, returning the tight embrace. 

The next few minutes is a whirlwind of travel mugs and duffel bags and car keys until the four of them are walking out the door and splitting up into two vehicles for the drive to the station. He parks his truck along the sidewalk, far enough down the street to be out of sight of any one walking up to the house. 

“Ready?” He asks her with a reassuring smile.

She nods once and then opens the passenger door with determination. “Ready.”

He takes her hand and twines their fingers together for as much of the walk as he can, only releasing her when they reach the apron. They greet people as they make their way to the locker room and stash their bags in their lockers. They exchange small giddy smiles before leaving the bunkroom, heading for the bullpen. 

Boden’s office door is open as they approach. Matt knocks lightly and doesn’t address his Chief until he looks up.

“Can we have a word, Chief?” Matt asks, glancing between Boden and Brett.

“Sure, of course,” he says, waving them inside. 

Matt shuts the door behind them and Boden notices with a suspicious squint. “Everything okay?”

“Everything’s great,” Brett assures him. “We just have some news and wanted to talk to you about how to proceed.”

He nods but doesn’t look convinced. “Have a seat. How were you furloughs?” Boden asks. “Casey, you went to the Florida Keys, didn’t you? I’m sorry, Brett, I don’t remember where you said you went?”

Brett presses her lips together to hide a grin before she manages to answer him. “Um, the Florida Keys.”

Boden immediately understands the meaning in her answer. He awkwardly clears his throat. “You both took furlough to the same place during the same week?”

Matt scratches behind his neck and offers Boden a bashful smile. “It wasn’t a coincidence, Chief.”

“I got that much, Casey, thank you,” he quips dryly. “So, you two are…?”

“Dating,” Sylvie answers. “For a month now. We didn’t want to tell the house unless it seemed like something that might work out and well--”

“We think it’s gonna work out,” Matt says, giving Brett a full smile while he interrupts her. She was about to play them off as less than what they are just in case he felt differently than her. He’s not going to let either of them do that anymore.

She blushes and reflects his smile back at him. “We definitely do.”

Boden looks between them and nods. “Well, congratulations.” Their Chief is never one to reveal much and in general he doesn’t concern himself with what relationships people have in the Firehouse. As long as that relationship doesn’t negatively impact the day to day he keeps his thoughts to himself. But Matt knows he’s not imagining it when he spots pride and fondness in his eyes and barely there smile. “I’ve never met two more selfless people. I would think that will work out in your favor. She’ll put you first and you’ll put her first and between the two of you maybe you’ll both actually get what _you_ want.”

No, he didn’t imagine it and now he sees amusement there too.

“Thank you, Chief,” Sylvie says with a smile that looks both bashful and bewildered. 

“I trust the two of you to keep any relationship issues separate from the job so I don’t anticipate we’ll have any problems on that front,” Boden says he opens one of the drawers on his desk. 

“Absolutely,” Matt agrees. They spend every third day at the Firehouse so he can’t promise all drama will stay outside but he can promise it won’t follow them on calls. He and Brett have been at 51 long enough to prove how professional they can be through a variety of circumstances.

“Plus, Brett reports to me not to you, Casey, so there’s no conflicts within the chain of command,” Boden adds as he pulls out a file folder. “There is a relationship disclosure form you’ll need to fill out. That is, if what’s happening here is serious. It is serious, isn’t it?”

Sylvie nods and smiles sweetly at Matt before answers. “It is. Very serious.”

“Okay, then if you’ll both fill out one of these and get it back to me, I’ll make sure it’s filed right away.” He pulls two pieces of paper out of the manilla folder and hands one to each of them. “Again, congratulations. You’re two of the most dedicated first responders I know and you deserve to be happy outside of these walls. How do you plan to handle this with the rest of the house?”

Something in Boden’s tone worries Matt. Like he anticipates the house will have an issue with it and he wants to know how to brace himself for the impending moment. 

“Oh, well, we thought we would catch everyone at breakfast and just get it all out there. Let them ask us any questions they have. That way we only have to tell the story once and hopefully people get it out of their system early,” Sylvie replies, repeating the plan they made yesterday.

Boden nods his approval. “That’s a good strategy. I’ll let you get to it then. I would recommend taking a moment to fill those out first, though, so they don’t get lost in the rest of the day.”

“Of course, Chief,” Matt assures him. “We’ll get to work on that right now.”

Boden dismisses them and they head to Matt’s quarters. The form isn’t long and it only takes them a few minutes to fill out. Longer than it probably should have but that’s because they both took a minute to comment on the intimidating legal jargon they could barely understand. Afterward, they go to the common room for breakfast and hand Boden their forms as he stands at the coffee maker. He grins at them and nods, before walking out of the room. Matt’s pretty sure that’s their signal to make their announcement. He glances around and does a quick count to make sure everyone’s present. They are.

“Do you want to go first or should I go first?” He asks as he leans against the counter and leans his shoulder into hers.

“You’re the Captain,” she tells him with a teasing smirk. “Most of these people report to you, not me.”

He snorts and shakes his head at her. “So, that’s how it is, huh?”

“That’s how it is,” she parrots with a quiet chuckle.

He rubs a hand over the nape of his neck and loudly clears his throat. “Hey, Fifty-One, let me have your focus for a second.” 

He doesn’t try to sound authoritative; it just happens. The room immediately quiets and all eyes land on him. For a moment he’s nervous. He falters. If it were truly up to him they wouldn’t have to announce it, but this house is a family and nosy as hell. It’s best to make sure they hear it from them and not through a grapevine of gossip.

Sylvie intentionally leans her shoulder into his, offering support without a public display of affection. They both agreed to try to keep things as professional as they can stand to around the house. He knows what that shoulder lean means and it has an instant soothing effect. He pulls himself together and continues.

“While we’re all together, and before we get a call, Brett and I have some news to share.” He pauses and takes a deep breath. “For the last month, we’ve been seeing each other.” He’s briefly interrupted by at least one surprised gasp. “We didn’t want it to be a big deal around the house until we had a better idea of where it was going but...well, it’s gotten serious so we don’t want to keep it quiet anymore.”

Sylvie nods her agreement and then grabs his hand, threading their fingers together. “We know it might be a bit of shock to some of you. Honestly, it was a shock to us too. We just thought, as our firehouse family, you deserved to know first before everyone else.”

There’s a painful beat of silence before Joe Cruz saves them from complete and total crickets.

“I _thought_ it was weird the two of you went on furlough at the same time,” Joe says with a chuckle. He walks over to them and wraps Sylvie up in an enthusiastic bear hug. “I’m so incredibly happy for you, Roomie. Chloe will be especially thrilled.” He releases her and gives them both a wide grin. “She was convinced there was something between you guys at the wedding.”

“Thank you, Joe,” Sylvie says, hugging him again. “And she was right.”

“It just took us a little while longer to get it together,” Matt adds as Cruz claps him on the back. 

Joe’s congratulations breaks the dam. Stella and Severide offer their own as if they didn’t already know, which he’s sure no one buys. Violet tells Sylvie she assumed they were together last year and was shocked to learn they weren’t when she came to the house. Matt finds it interesting that someone outside the house found them more transparent than people in the house. Gallo and Ritter offer congratulations but don’t seem to feel one way or the other about them. He didn’t expect a big reaction out of them. Ritter does say something to Sylvie though about finally understanding Foster’s “blind item” nearly a year later. Casey has no idea what that means, but judging by the way Sylvie blushes it’s significant. Tony and Capp keep it simple. They accept the news and wish them luck. 

Mouch and Herrmann are the only ones that hang back.

Mouch approaches first and hugs Sylvie. “Can’t say I saw it coming,” he says. “But as long as you’re happy, Brett.” He pats Casey on the shoulder and gives him half of a smile. “Same goes for you, Casey. As long as you’re happy.”

“Thank you, Mouch,” he replies. “I’m very happy.”

Sylvie fidgets nervously as Herrmann approaches. Matt holds his breath. Herrmann and Gabby were always close and still are as far as anyone knows. Matt hopes he realizes that Gabby chose to leave and Matt’s simply trying to live the best life he possibly can. She left him behind and it wouldn’t be fair to him to be expected to suspend his existence until she’s ready to come back to Chicago.

“Congratulations, you two,” Herrmann says with a genuine but strained smile. 

He squeezes Sylvie’s shoulder and then walks away.

Not exactly the warmest exchange, but at least he was supportive.

Matt glances over at Sylvie and finds her body language much more relaxed than it was a few moments ago. She blows out a relieved breath and then beams at him. “We did it. We told them!”

He chuckles at her brightness and nods. “We did.”

“I don’t have to watch my distance around here or at Molly’s anymore,” she says. “I feel so much better already!” She releases his hand with a smirk and pulls her phone out of the pocket of her hoodie. “And now I can post something to Instagram!”

“Is that absolutely necessary?” He asks with a bemused grin.

“Yes, it is.” She lifts her phone and snaps a picture of him just as she did in the bathroom that morning. “I need an after picture for the furlough beard side by side.” At his grimace she laughs and reaches up to gently caress her hand across his cheek. “Don’t worry, I won’t broadcast our entire lives on Instagram. I like keeping you to myself just as much as showing you off.”

And damn if that isn’t one of the sexiest things a woman’s ever said to him. He’s filled with affection and lust in equal measure and the soft center of him that he saves just for her grows in his chest. “Alright,” he agrees. “Fine. Post whatever you want.”

She releases a short giggle and kisses his cheek. “I knew you’d come around.”

******

As she predicted, Matt’s furlough beard was a hit with her Instagram followers — most of whom were friends from around town or old classmates and family friends from Fowlerton. But she’s also posted her favorite photo from their trip. It was nothing dramatic. Just a selfie of the two of them on the beach with her arms around him and her lips pressed to his cheek. 

He was genuinely smiling. It was the kind of bright smile the world rarely saw from Matt Casey and she _loved_ that she had the ability to pull it out of him.

Most of the comments were one or two words or a series of emojis but there was one notable comment that had Sylvie floating on air. Olivia from her gym just had to remind her she’d called it way back when.

_“I TOLD you that you were meant for each other! Great pic!”_

Meant for each other. She hadn’t believed it back then but she’s coming around on it now. She certainly loves him and she doesn’t see that changing anytime soon.

She checked her reflection in the visor mirror in her car. The rest of shift had been busy so no one had too much time to linger on her and Casey’s news, but now she was headed to Molly’s and she had no doubt there would be questions. 

Joe texted her and told her that Herrmann and Mouch were requesting all hands on deck to help decorate Molly’s for Disco Night. Sylvie always shows up for 51 and Molly’s so this is no different. There’s more people buzzing around than she anticipated though. Cindy must have called in some help too.

She walks through the door and immediately spots Herrmann and Kidd behind the bar standing across from Mouch as he assembles the Disco Night special signs for the tables. No one’s noticed her yet and she heads toward them for an assignment.

She freezes in her spot though when their conversation drifts toward her.

“I don’t know,” Herrmann says he stocks the beer cases behind the bar. “I just never thought Brett would do that to Dawson.” He turns to Stella who’s tightly gripping a glass in her hand and wiping it down furiously. Kidd is mad, not that Herrmann can tell. “Don’t you ladies have a code about swiping each other’s fellas or something?”

“Matt and Gabby are divorced,” Stella points out through gritted teeth.

“Yeah, but I thought we all just assumed she’d be back someday and they’d work it out. I mean those two kids are the meant to be, star-crossed lovers types. They’ve been through too much to just let it go,” Herrmann says with a shake of his head. “You’d think Brett would know that.”

Her face colors in embarrassment. Is that what people around the department think of her? That she _swiped_ Matt from Gabby? Do people really believe her to be that predatory? Herrmann certainly does. Not to mention, everything he’s saying relates back to the insecurities she and Matt had to work through _before_ they started dating. She had those same concerns about Matt and Gabby being _star-crossed_. Is she fooling herself? Does she have it all wrong?

She feels water pooling in her eyes and wants to speak up, let them know she can hear them, but she can’t. There’s a morbidly curious part of her that wants to hear how Herrmann truly feels. She stays quiet and stunned, feet glued to the floor.

“Casey and Brett,” Mouch says thoughtfully, as if rolling the idea around in his head. “That’s gonna take some getting used to. It’s always been Casey and Dawson.”

“Exactly!” Herrmann says, gesticulating wildly. “It’s always been Casey and Dawson. Poor kid. I can’t imagine how she’s gonna feel when she finds out her best friend’s dating her husband.”

“ _Ex-_ husband,” Stella reminds him forcefully as she sets down the glass and picks up another one.

“Yeah, whatever.”

Gabby already knows. Herrmann doesn’t know that fact, but it doesn’t change what he _said_. He made her sound like such a backstabbing bitch. Or a villain preying on Matt when he’s vulnerable. Is that what he really thinks of her? He must think she’s a horrible person if he means all the things he said just now.

“I don’t know,” Herrmann says with a shake of his head. “I guess I’m just disappointed is all. I expect more from Sylvie. I always thought she was a good kid.”

 _Was_. As in she isn’t anymore. Falling in love with Matt ruined her, apparently.

Oh God. Suddenly she feels like an idiot. What is she doing here? Herrmann doesn’t want her here. Neither does Mouch probably. She takes a step backward to leave and bumps into a bar stool, nearly falling on her ass. She catches herself just in time, but not soon enough to keep the trio at the bar from noticing her presence.

Stella’s eyes widen and her gaze immediately turns sympathetic.

Mouch looks embarrassed.

Neither says a word.

It’s Herrmann that speaks, looking ashamed and guilt-ridden. “Jesus, Brett, I’m sorry. I had no idea you were—“

He cannot finish that sentence. She’s close to tears as it is and all he’s going to do is remind her he was talking about her behind her back. She loves Herrmann. She respects him a great deal. To know he doesn’t feel the same way about her…

That fucking hurts.

But she can’t say that here. In front of mutual friends and other people who love Herrmann. So, she does what she always does.

She puts on a brave face.

“No, don’t. It’s...I’m early. Cruz said you needed help so I thought that I would—but clearly you have all the help you need and I don’t want to be a bother so I’ll just get out of your hair.” She stammers pathetically and backs her way to the door, unable to meet anyone’s eyes.

Why is she always such a goddamn doormat?

No one follows after her. She doesn’t expect them to. She gets in her car and drives home. To her huge empty apartment she can’t really afford. It occurs to her as she trudges through her front door, if that’s how Herrmann feels about her then there’s no way she can stay in his studio.

She shuts her eyes tight to hold the tears at bay and reaches for her phone, wanting to call Matt, but she stops short.

Herrmann is a Lieutenant at 51. He’s an officer Matt has to work with every shift. And Mouch is one of Matt’s crew. If she tells him about this is it going to cause tension between them? 

The answer comes to her immediately. 

Hell, yes.

They promised Boden their relationship wouldn’t cause drama in the house. They’re barely 48 hours in and if she tells Matt that promise is already broken. She can’t do that to the house. They don’t deserve to be sucked into her problems.

She sighs and types out a quick text.

_Hey, I’ve got a bit of a headache. I know we agreed to meet at Molly’s but I don’t think I could handle Disco Night right now._

She hits send before she rethinks it. This is the right move. She’s just looking out for Matt. 

_Not a problem. Pizza and House Hunters instead? My treat._

She smiles fondly at his reply and types out an immediate acceptance. Matt, Pizza, and _House Hunters_ sounds like all the comfort she needs.

She couldn’t be any more in love with him if she tried. It’s too late to change it now. All she can do is pray she hasn’t made a huge mistake.

 _Please_ don’t let this be a mistake. Her heart couldn’t take that. It would, quite literally, shatter into a million pieces. Thinking about Matt and all the ways she loves him finally forces the tears to fall. She tries to stay aware of the time as she cries. Matt will be here soon and she cannot let him see her like this. He texts her that he’s on his way and she hurriedly runs to the bathroom to wash her face, hoping to use it as an excuse for her puffy face.

She takes a deep breath and expels it. She recenters herself and focuses on Matt. A small smile forms on her lips as she thinks back on the last four weeks. He’s been amazing. She’s not letting him go. Besides, she thinks as she replays Gabby’s words from the other day, just because something is messy doesn’t mean it’s wrong. 

All that matters is that she and Matt know what happened and how they came to be. Gabby said it herself, it doesn’t matter what she thinks or anyone else for that matter. Sylvie and Matt are adults who have to pursue what makes them happy and their life better.

Matt makes her happy while also making her life better.

She doesn’t just want him, she needs him.

She’s not giving him up, even if it means losing Herrmann’s respect.

There’s a knock at her door and she rushes to answer it. Her tears are behind her. She won’t shed anymore of them over it. Right now, her focus should be on Matt and keeping drama out of the firehouse. She may have to avoid Molly’s for a while and while that makes her sad, it doesn’t break her heart. She’ll do it. For Matt.

She’d do anything for Matt.

******

He’s not sure what happened, but something is off at 51. Everyone’s polite, but polite is not _normal_ for their firehouse. Never has been, never will be.

Herrmann is being too cordial and Brett is being too quiet. Mouch looks like he wishes he were anywhere else and Stella spends most of her time glaring at Herrmann and Mouch. Something happened but he has no idea what or when.

Not only that, but for all of Sylvie’s talk about not having to keep their distance at Molly’s he finds it strange that they haven't been there once since they told everyone they’re dating. When he suggests it, Sylvie suggests somewhere else. They’re all excellent places but it concerns him. Sylvie has always _loved_ Molly’s. She’s been one of Herrmann’s best customers since she came to 51.

It’s been two shifts since they made their announcement and they haven’t been to Molly’s one night. She also stays professionally cool with him at work. It’s almost as if they’re still dating in secret. If it wasn’t for the strangeness at the firehouse, he’d question whether or not they actually announced anything or if he imagined it.

They walk into work together but, yet again, Sylvie drops his hand when they reach the apron. 

“Hey,” he asks as he wraps his hand around hers and pulls her to him. “Is everything okay?”

“Of course,” she answers quickly with a too-cheerful smile. He can spot a fake Sylvie smile a mile away. This one is particularly bad. 

“Are you sure?” He tries again.

“I promise,” she assures him. “I’m fine. I’m just trying to be mindful of other people. I wouldn’t want to make anyone uncomfortable.”

Now _that_ he believes. But he doesn’t understand why this is coming up _now_.

“Okay,” he says with a nod. “Did somebody say something to you?”

“No,” she answers. “Not to _me_.”

Her tone is dark and tinged in resentment. It’s been days of this...strangeness. He’s tired of it. He wants to know what’s going on and he wants to know why she’s being so cagey about going to Molly’s or being affectionate with him around the firehouse. He thought telling the house would help them feel more legitimate for her -- that they would feel more free. But nothing about this feels free.

“Alright,” he says with a huff. “I’ve had about enough of whatever this is. Come with me.”

He keeps a hold of her hand and leads her through the Firehouse and into his quarters. Once they’re shut inside, he closes the blinds and faces her with a stern expression.

“What happened?” He asks. “Why are we avoiding Molly’s and why are you steering clear of me at work? Why is Herrmann being far too nice to both of us and why can’t Mouch look me in the eye? I would also like to know why Stella looks ready to murder either one of them at any given moment. I’ve been watching all of this go down for a week and I _cannot_ figure it out. I keep thinking you’ll tell me eventually but you haven’t. That’s not like you, Sylvie. I seem to remember having a conversation with you about being each other's partner. Partners _communicate_.”

She looks instantly guilty and chews her bottom lip while she fiddles with her watch band. “I don’t want to cause any problems in the house, Matt. All that will do is make your life more difficult.”

He quirks a brow at her. “So, this is you looking out for me?”

“It’s my problem,” she says vaguely. “I’m handling it.”

“If avoiding Molly’s _and me_ is how you’re handling it then it doesn’t seem like just your problem, Sylvie. It seems like an _us_ problem because it’s affecting me too.” He pauses and clenches his fists at his sides. He’s having some very uncomfortable flashbacks to all too familiar arguments he had with _Gabby_. He never thought he’d have those same arguments with _Sylvie_. She’s never hid her struggles from him.

He doesn’t like it.

“What’s going on, Sylvie?” He asks softly, stepping into her space and wrapping his arms around her waist. “Please, let me help you.”

That seems to do it. She sags against him, winding her arms around him in return and resting her head on his chest. The forlorn sigh she releases causes a twinge of pain in his chest. 

“Herrmann thinks I stole you from Gabby,” she confesses, her voice thick with unshed tears. “That you two are star-crossed lovers and I should have known better. That he’s...disappointed in me.”

His arms tighten around her protectively and he feels fury building in place of the pain he felt earlier. “He actually said that to you?”

“No, he said it to Kidd and Mouch and didn’t realize I was in the room until I tripped over a barstool trying to escape,” she tells him.

Barstool? This was at Molly’s? “When was this?”

“You remember Disco Night?”

“When we stayed in with Pizza and HGTV, yeah.”

“I went over there to help them set up and walked into that conversation. Afterward, I went home and texted you.”

A week ago. Now it all makes sense. Herrmann stuck his big crotchety foot in his mouth and stirred up all of Sylvie’s old insecurities plus her habit of looking out for everyone else before herself -- even to her detriment. His entire body tenses and he starts putting together a plan to confront Herrmann. He respects the hell out of Herrmann but he has no idea what he’s talking about. 

He doesn’t know what Matt’s been through with Gabby or how hard it was to lose her. How he struggled and struggled with his feelings for Sylvie because some part of him mistakenly felt they were _wrong_. He doesn’t know that Matt and Sylvie have tried to be sensitive to Gabby’s potential feelings every step of the way. He doesn’t know anything about the guilt Sylvie’s had to work through to even open up to Matt in the first place.

He doesn’t know a goddamn thing about any of it.

“Matt,” Sylvie says cautiously. “I can feel you clenching.” She blows out a ragged breath and steps out of his arms. “See, this is what I was trying to avoid. Herrmann is the Lieutenant on Engine. You have to work with him and that becomes a lot harder to do if you’re caught up in my mess.”

“This isn’t just _your_ mess, Sylvie. This is about _both_ of us. I don’t need you to protect me, the same way you don’t need me to protect you. Yes, I’m angry, but I have a right to be,” Matt tells her as he kicks his chair out of the way and leans against his desk. “Herrmann doesn’t know what I’ve been through. He doesn’t know how damn hard it was to ask Gabby for what I wanted and then watch her run as far as she could in the other direction. He doesn’t know how it felt to get those papers in the mail and realize you were never going to be enough for her. _He doesn’t know_ what it was like to develop feelings for you while somehow feeling like I was betraying a woman who didn’t want me. He doesn’t know how much better I feel with you than I did with her. He wants to shoot off his mouth about my love life but he has no fucking idea about how I feel and what I want. So yeah, I’m angry. It’s my life, not his. I choose my own happiness. _I choose you_. End of story.”

His arms are crossed tightly in front of his chest and at some point during his rant he lost track of where Sylvie was in the room so her soft hands coming to rest on his folded forearms startled him. She rubs her hands back and forth on his arms and then slides them over his shoulders, passing his neck, to cup his jaw. She pulls his forehead to hers and holds him there, eyes closed breathing in and out -- silently urging him to do the same. Eventually, his arms unfold and enclose around her instead. She leans into his hold, standing between his legs with her front pressed against his.

“I choose you too, Matt,” she says softly. “I choose how happy you make me. You’re more than _enough_ for me. What you want is so incredibly important. I need you to know that. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. All I heard in what Herrmann said were the things he said about me. I didn’t think about how his words discounted you from the equation. It’s just that I’ve been afraid of the assumptions he made from the minute I started to feel something for you. I’m the woman so it’s always going to be my fault. I just didn’t realize people so close to me felt that way. But it doesn’t matter. You’re right. They have no idea what we’ve gone through or what we feel. I realized for myself not long after I got home that night. You and I know what happened and how we came to be. _We know_ how Gabby feels about the two of us. They don’t know _any_ of that.”

“They also don’t know us as a couple,” Matt points out to her. “If they can see how happy you make me and how I am when I’m with you, they’ll come around. If they care about us at all, _they’ll_ _come around_.”

She nods and then kisses him slowly, searchingly. He returns the kiss just as enthusiastically with his hands tracing idle lines up and down her back. The kiss is soft and tender and he can feel every bit of her gratefulness in the slant of her mouth against his. When she pulls away she takes a deep breath and looks more at peace than he’s seen her look in a week -- a very long week. 

“Even if they don’t,” she says, meeting his eyes with an ardent expression. “It’s none of their business. Our relationship is between the two of us and we’re the only ones who have to understand it. Any outside opinions are irrelevant.”

“I’m glad to hear you say that,” he says, smiling warmly. “Because I have an idea.”

“What?” She asks.

“Come on.”

He takes her hand in his, tangling their fingers, and leads her through the bunkroom and down the hall to the common room. He pulls her into his side with his arm around her waist and then clears his throat loudly, just like he did last week. And all eyes focus on him once again.

“It’s come to my attention that some of you may have a problem with Sylvie and I as a couple,” Matt accounces. Sylvie’s eyes widen and she tries her damndest to hide her face in his shoulder. “And, you know what, that’s fine because it’s not your life. _It’s mine_. I have the only say that matters. I choose who I include in it and who I don’t. And _I choose_ Sylvie Brett because I am head over ass in love with her and nothing or no one will ever change that. Copy?”

“Copy!” Stella shouts, adding loud applause to accompany her confirmation. 

The applause spurns on a round of wolf whistles and cheers and Sylvie blushes furiously but _glows_ with happiness. 

“Matt, did you just...you just said you love me,” she whispers through the clapping.

“Yes, I did. And I _do_. I am wholly and completely in love with you, Sylvie.”

Her eyes shine with happy tears as she fists her hands in his white Captain’s shirt and yanks his lips down to hers. It’s a short kiss, but one full of passion, joy, and hope. “I love you too,” she tells him as they pull apart. “More than you know.”

The cheers die down and the crowd disperses. Once again, Mouch and Herrmann are hanging back from everyone else. Mouch approaches first.

“I am truly happy for the both of you,” Mouch says, looking wholeheartedly apologetic. “But, you know, us old guys, we hate change. It might take me some time to adjust.”

Matt smirks at him. “That’s fine. You’ll have plenty of it. We’re not going anywhere.”

“It’s okay, Mouch,” Sylvie says, hugging him with one tight squeeze. “It took me time to adjust to it too. I get it.”

Herrmann approaches them with a hangdog expression. He clears his throat, nervously before he speaks. “I have recently had it pointed out to me, that I may be a bit biased and shortsighted when it comes to Gabby. I hate to admit it, but this person made some very excellent points.” Herrmann briefly glances toward Kidd with a fond eye roll before turning his attention back to Sylvie. “I was completely out of line and unfair to you at Molly’s the other night. You’re a sweet kid. You always have been. I know you better than that. I just worry about Gabby and I took that out on you. That’s not your problem, that’s mine. The bottom line is, I’m not a part of your relationship. I don’t know anything about it, and I apologize for acting like I did.”

Matt feels any remaining tension drain from his body at those words. Of course 51 would come around in the end. They’re a family. Disagreements are bound to happen, but in the end they all want each other to be happy and fulfilled. That’s always going to be the most important thing. 

Sylvie launches herself at Herrmann with a tight hug. “Apology accepted. Thank you, Herrmann.”

Herrmann chuckles and returns her hug. His expression is a mixture of fondness and relief. “Good,” he replies. “Cindy and I were really hoping you’d take us up on the offer to live in the studio and I’d hate for anything to put the kibosh on that.”

Sylvie pulls back from the hug with an elated expression. “You still want me there?”

“Are you kidding? Of course we do! I’m more worried about you not wanting to live near me and my big fat mouth,” Herrmann says apologetically.

“Oh please, I already told you, apology accepted,” Sylvie says reassuringly. “If you’ll still have me I would love to take you up on it. The studio would be perfect.”

“Consider it done,” Herrmann agrees. “Just let me know when you want to move in.”

“Thank you, Herrmann,” Sylvie tells him as he walks away.

“Look at that,” Matt says as he wraps his arms around her again. “It’s all working out.”

“All because you made me talk to you.” She meets his eyes while she speaks, looking penitent. “Lesson learned.”

He chuckles and presses his lips to her temple for a brief kiss. “Partners work together. We can both get better at that. I’m not scared of a little hard work. I might be unprepared, but I’m willing to learn if you are.”

She nods and smiles lovingly at him. “We’re just getting started. We have plenty of time to get it right.”

Yes, they absolutely do. It can be a lifelong lesson as far as he’s concerned -- as long as it takes to prove to her that he loves her with everything he has in him. He already knows they can face down any odds together. Any storm, any element of nature, any enemy. None of it stands a chance against them as long as they continue to choose each other, over and over again.

**Author's Note:**

>  **A/N:** If you’ve been around twitter then you’ve seen some of the AWFUL things people say about Brett because of the character’s budding romance with Matt Casey and it got me thinking. The fic premise became: What happens when Matt and Sylvie let 51 in on their relationship and not _everyone_ is as happy about it as they are?
> 
> I like to imagine everyone in the house would be supportive if/when the romance becomes a relationship BUT if I really sit with the characters that work at 51 I realize that may not be completely accurate. Herrmann has always had a special bond with Gabby and I could see him feeling as if she’d come back someday and inevitably she and Matt would work it out. His knee jerk reaction would be to worry about Gabby. And Mouch, well, I think he’d just need a minute to adjust to the change and in the meantime put his foot in his mouth. He and Sylvie are close but he also watched Matt and Gabby play out so it would take him a second to get used to it.
> 
> Herrmann would eventually get on board no matter what. He wants his 51 family to be happy, but I can see him being resistant at first.
> 
> Anyway, that’s the story behind the story!
> 
> xoxo


End file.
